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After budget cuts force the Southside Saints football team to disband, Jamal and his friends have to settle for playing pickup on the hardscrabble field behind their high school. Then the president of a sporting-goods company offers to donate $20,000 worth of equipment to the team. There's only one catch: he wants to be the coach. Thrilled to have a real team together, the players turn a blind eye to Coach Fort's racism, bullying and discrimination. Until he takes it too far. Now it’s up to Jamal and his teammates to take back their team and show what they’re made of.
In this high-interest sports novel for young readers, fourteen-year-old Logan Grant hides his badly scarred face behind an old-fashioned goalie mask.
Ed Warnicki used to play football in the park with his dad and dream of being a great receiver. Now, at fourteen, Ed secretly wishes he could play for his Calgary High Mustangs team. But he worries that he's too tall, too skinny and too insecure — the exact opposite of star quarterback Tyrone Jackson. Wanting to contribute to the school's football team in some way, Ed accepts the job of waterboy. Tyrone teases Ed about his build, his old bike and his obvious crush on Tyrone's girlfriend and school sports reporter Zara, and one day at practice throws a ball right at Ed's head. Ed's instincts kick in and he makes a decent catch! So when the team's top receiver gets injured, Ed joins the team as back-up receiver. Getting annoyed that Zara seems to prefer Ed's company to his own, Tyrone won't pass to Ed, and even calls a play he knows could get Ed hurt. But the big game against their rival team puts school pride and Ed's confidence on the line. Will Tyrone throw to Ed? Can Ed catch a crucial pass and make his dreams of being a football hero come true?
Kayak Combat is set in the highly competitive sport of kayak racing. When it's announced that Cody's Calgary kayaking club will host a Canada-wide competition, no one doubts that Cody will represent them. He is the team's best paddler, after all. But Cody and the others aren't counting on a new guy from Ontario arriving who can out-paddle them all. Cody's desire to be the best is put to the test one stormy day when he notices his rival's kayak missing from the clubhouse. Cody has a choice to make: attempt a solo rescue, or eliminate the competition... This story about overcoming rivalry and learning to put others first is sure to make a splash with reluctant readers.
As captain of the Westside Warriors, Colt plays clean and hard. But lately his coach has been losing his temper and ordering the team to win at any cost, even if it means playing dirty. What makes it worse is that Coach is Colt's father, and his erratic behaviour at home and on the field has Colt wondering if something is seriously wrong with his dad. Colt follows Coach's orders to go head hunting and take out an opponent with a helmet-to-helmet hit, but Coach then claims that Colt acted on his own. When it turns out that Colt's dad has symptoms from concussions he suffered in his NFL career, Colt is made acting coach for the championship game. But will he let a teammate continue playing after a hit to the head, even when the teammate's own dad is urging him to play through the pain? This book explores the dangers of concussion in contact sports and the lasting damage they can cause in the context of an action-filled football story.
Fourteen-year-old Griffin Finch attends school on scholarship and is struggling to stay on the basketball team. Knowing he has to step up his game, Griffin spends the summer playing basketball on a street court for a team called the Running Rebels in the hardscrabble Toronto neighbourhood of Regent Park. Griffin's hoop skills are taken to the next level by playing alongside streetball stars — especially Fly Davis, the best player in the league. But a summer of fast, high-scoring play ends with Griffin running home, frightened by violence in the street. Griffin makes his school team and persuades Fly to apply for a scholarship to his school. Having Fly on the team inspires Griffin's teammates and helps increase their team's chance of winning. But opposing ideas of how basketball should be played lead to a standoff between Fly and Coach, and Fly quits the team. How can Griffin convince Coach and the rest of his team that they need to play run-and-gun basketball to win? And can he bring together his schoolmates and his friends from Regent Park?
Cade's dad thinks triathlons are for wimps. He doesn't think it's a real sport and wishes Cade would play football instead, like his older brother, Trent. So Cade trains in secret and qualifies to compete in the provincial championship in Sylvan Lake. The night before the event, Cade's coach suddenly can't go, and Cade is forced to ask his dad for a ride there. He only agrees because Trent has a football game nearby. The road trip takes a nasty turn when his dad swerves to avoid a deer and their car hurtles into an ice-cold river. It's up to Cade to use his skills to save his entire family.
Ed Warnicki used to play football in the park with his dad and dream of being a great receiver. Now, at fourteen, Ed secretly wishes he could play for his Calgary High Mustangs team. But he worries that he's too tall, too skinny and too insecure — the exact opposite of star quarterback Tyrone Jackson. Wanting to contribute to the school's football team in some way, Ed accepts the job of waterboy. Tyrone teases Ed about his build, his old bike and his obvious crush on Tyrone's girlfriend and school sports reporter Zara, and one day at practice throws a ball right at Ed's head. Ed's instincts kick in and he makes a decent catch! So when the team's top receiver gets injured, Ed joins the team as back-up receiver. Getting annoyed that Zara seems to prefer Ed's company to his own, Tyrone won't pass to Ed, and even calls a play he knows could get Ed hurt. But the big game against their rival team puts school pride and Ed's confidence on the line. Will Tyrone throw to Ed? Can Ed catch a crucial pass and make his dreams of being a football hero come true?
When Coach Gordon suddenly retires, Quinn Brown has to prove to a new coach that he deserves to remain the Spartans' starting quarterback. But Coach Miller's style seems to be throwing Quinn off his game -- and big-mouthed second-string Luke is gunning for Quinn's position. To top it off, Quinn has been paired up with a peer tutor for math, and the tutor's a new kid everyone's making fun of. Who would have thought that the new kid would be exactly the kind of friend a struggling quarterback needs -- both on and off the football field?